Charter Communications is working to convince the FCC that it is not Comcast, and should therefore be allowed to merge with Time Warner Cable, which Comcast failed to do, as well as with Bright House Networks. The merger, according to the New York Times, would make Charter the second-largest cable company, with 30 percent of the high-speed Internet market and 17 percent of the video customers in the United States.
For its first project, Sidewalk Labs, a Google-backed start-up dedicated to using technology to solve urban problems, will head a group of investors to acquire Control Group and Titan, two major companies behind LinkNYC.

The Maine State Library is a recent addition to libraries tackling the digital divide. Beginning with the Cherryfield Library, the program will offer a “Check Out the Internet” program.

U.S. Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced the Digital Learning Equity Act of 2015, which aims to support improving student access to technology outside of the classroom.

In a similar vein, writing for the Hechinger Report, Nichole Dobo explains why while “digital learning holds a lot of promise … it’s not all that promising if people who are already at a disadvantage get left behind.”

New research from Change the Equation shows that millennials might not be as tech savvy as we think.

Writing for the Hill, Christopher Coursen argues that policies like regulating the Internet like a utility might be exacerbating the digital divide.

And finally, the FCC released the Lifeline reform and modernization item.